Progeny
by Zee Viate
Summary: A young man turns up at NCIS, looking for DiNozzo.


**A/N: **I'm re-posting this because I want to move all my stories under one pen name. The A/N below was there when I originally posted this story. Unfortunately, my laptop later died. I lost all my documents, including the scenes mentioned in the A/N and all the notes and drafts for future scenes of 'Omission'. This was posted as the first chapter of a 'story' titled 'As-Is'.

* * *

**A/N: **I've written a lot of scenes that have been sitting on my computer for a long time. Most of them will never become stories. I'm going to post some of them here as one-shots. Please be forewarned that they may have no set-up, no resolution, excess implausibility, etc... Some may include bad language, explicit violence and dark themes.

* * *

Gibbs was alone in his team's area of the squad room when the call came from lobby security. There was a David Wilson there asking to see Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo pertaining to a personal and urgent matter. This wasn't the first time Tony'd had a visitor insisting on seeing him for personal business. It was, however, the first male to show up under those circumstances.

DiNozzo was due back soon. Rather than having Wilson, with unknown motivation and possible grievances, escorted to the squad room, Gibbs decided it was best to scope the man out up front.

Gibbs stepped off the elevator and saw the lone visitor waiting near the security counter. He was a young man, looked to be in his late teens or very early twenties, tall and lanky. He looked vaguely familiar from a distance. The closer Gibbs got, the more familiar he looked.

* * *

As soon as DiNozzo exited the squad room elevator on his return, Gibbs was headed his way motioning him back in and joining him inside. Once the doors closed, Gibbs flipped the power switch and Tony looked apprehensive.

"Whatever it is, Boss, I didn't do it."

Gibbs pulled a creased 5x7 photograph from his jacket pocket and handed it to DiNozzo. It was a picture of Tony as a teenager, his arm around the shoulders of a beautiful blonde. For a few seconds, DiNozzo was shocked silent. Then he frowned and looked to Gibbs.

"Where did you get this?"

"From a kid in interrogation room one that says he's your son."

"What?" Tony asked, stunned.

"From a kid in interrogation one that says-"

Tony shook his head and interrupted Gibbs.

"He's not my son."

He extended the picture back towards Gibbs. Once Gibbs took it, Tony reached across him for the the elevator's start switch. Gibbs grabbed his sleeve to stop him.

"That's you with his mother in the picture."

"I'm in a lot of pictures with a lot of girls, Boss."

"He says his mother showed him the picture and told him the truth when he was thirteen and his father, the guy that he thought he was his father, was locked away for life. She wouldn't tell him his real father's name because she was worried what could happen, the guy was a real prick. Said he was a spoiled rich kid who took advantage of her, promised to marry her to get her in the sack then dumped her once she got pregnant. Said that he gave her ten thousand dollars to take care of the problem and go away."

"You believe that?" Tony asked.

"That you'd send a girl pregnant with your kid off that way? No. That he could be your kid? Yes."

"I'm telling you, he's not mine."

"You can't be sure of that."

"I am sure, Boss. I was careful. No bareback, no prophylactic failures. Take my word for it, the kid's not mine."

"He looks a helluva lot like you, Tony."

"Lucky boy, then. But, not mine."

"Then come tell him."

Tony started to protest but stopped in the face of Gibbs' steady gaze. Gibbs toggled the switch and, when the doors opened, led the way out and down the hall. He opened the door to interrogation one's observation room, motioning Tony in before him. He pointed to the teenager, sitting at the table in the opposite room, facing the two way mirror.

"Look at him," Gibbs said. "He doesn't look like his mother. He looks like you."

Tony stared at the boy and paled. "How old is he?"

"Nineteen."

"Birthday? Do you know his birthday?"

"April 30th, 1990."

After a second, Tony released a relieved huff of air. He shook his head, and stared at the boy, puzzled. Then he looked suddenly stricken and dropped down to sit in a chair. "She told him all that and sent him after me?"

"She's dead, died a couple weeks ago. The kid got your name from an old friend of his mother's and tracked you down."

"It's another frame, I'm not guilty."

Gibbs sat in a chair next to Tony.

"You're a hundred percent sure, no doubt in your mind?"

Tony nodded. "Dates don't match."

"The boy's sure you're his father. You'll need to do a DNA to convince him otherwise."

"Him or you?" Tony asked.

"You tell me you're sure, I believe you're sure. But, there's something about the kid..."

DiNozzo nodded. "I know."

"Know what?"

Tony hesitated a few seconds staring at the floor before he answered.

"She was 22, I was 17, senior year at the military academy. She was the hostess of the town's best restaurant and she was gorgeous and I was head over heels for her. We were hot and heavy for a few months with the secret romance. She acted like she was crazy in love with me, was very interested in my family. Wanted to know why I never went home for weekends or breaks, wanted to be introduced. Drove me nuts about it. I kept putting her off, didn't want her to know I wasn't exactly my family's shining star. We were supposed to get married once I graduated."

"I didn't give much of a damn about the rules to begin with, cared even less when I had her to spend time with. They caught me sneaking back onto campus again late one night after I'd already gotten my final warning. They were gonna kick me out, twelve days before graduation. So, my father shows up there for the first time in six years. Very pissed off, to put it mildly. I was shocked he bothered to come fix things. I guess to protect his investment. He'd paid for six years and he'd damn well get a graduation out of it."

"I explained about Julie, told him we were going to get married. Big proverbial lead balloon drop. I got a long, loud lecture about gold diggers and lack of discipline and if I was man enough to marry I was man enough to finish the education he'd paid good money for. I mouthed off, he shut me up with a backhand, I stormed off. He caught up with me and made me a deal. He'd pulled strings and made a donation and got me one more chance. If I aced the exams and graduated with my class, proved I was responsible and ready, he'd give the marriage his blessing. We shook on it, Boss, man to man."

The last sentence brought a pained expression to his face and it was a few seconds before he continued speaking.

"So, I told Julie I couldn't see her till graduation and spent every second studying and aced the tests. The night before we walked, I got the message my father had been called away on important business and wouldn't be able to make the ceremony. Neither did Julie. I couldn't get her on the phone, no answer when I knocked on her door. I went to the restaurant. She'd left me a dear John letter at the hostess stand."

A few seconds of silence ticked by, Tony staring at the floor, Gibbs watching Tony.

"So," Gibbs broke the silence, "You think your father..."

"Look at him!" Tony gestured toward David. "I look a lot like Senior. But, this kid's the twin of him at that age. I never even spoke to Julie after May of that year. The timing..." He took a deep breath before looking back to Gibbs. "Yeah, I think my father."

"You need to talk to him, Tony."

"Why? He already hates me, the truth's not gonna make me any more popular. He'd take it better coming from you."

"He's your brother."

Tony winced as if the statement physically hurt him. "He's a stranger whose mother I did. Does that fit any definition of 'brother' you've ever seen in a Webster's?"

"You need, " Gibbs repeated, "to talk to him. Maybe it's not you who owes him, but he is owed and it's falling on you, fair or not. You face him, give him the answers then go your separate ways if that's what you want. You don't face him now, you'll regret it later."

Tony sighed, nodded and ran a hand through his hair.

"Well, I guess I should be grateful for small favors. At least she didn't tell him she was a virgin and I forced myself on her. What the hell was she thinking? Why tell him me?"

"Maybe," Gibbs answered, "She was thinking being dumped by her boyfriend sounded better than her setting up a rich old guy who wouldn't come across with a ring." Gibbs sat in the chair beside him.

"What do I say to him?" Tony asked.

"The truth."

"That's gonna go over real well. 'Your mother was a lying gold digger and your father...'" Tony shook his head.

"It'll be hard to hear," Gibbs said. "And, hard to tell."

He stood and clapped Tony's shoulder and motioned him up.

"And, it won't get any easier the longer you wait. Come on."

* * *

The teen glared at Tony as they entered.

"Surprise," he said bitterly.

"Most definitely," Tony answered.

"David Wilson," Gibbs said, "Meet Anthony DiNozzo, Jr."

There were seconds of silence as Wilson continued to glare up at Tony and Tony looked back at him, his expression cleared of any discernible emotion. Gibbs placed the photo on the table, tapped DiNozzo's elbow and sat and Tony followed suit sitting beside him.

"I guess it's best to get right to the point," Tony said. "I'm not your father."

"Liar!"

"I'm not lying, David. Your mother lied to you."

"You worthless, miserable, sorry sack of-" Wilson was rising, leaning across the table towards Tony.

"Sit down!" Gibbs ordered, interrupting the rant.

"It's like some trippy, wormhole, alternate dimension deja vu," Tony said to Gibbs. "I can almost smell the Macallan."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" the angry teen demanded.

"It means, David, that you're a real chip off the old block."

"Tony..." Gibbs spoke softly and briefly laid a hand on DiNozzo's shoulder.

"Okay, right," Tony said. "Back to what I was saying. I am not your father."

"My mother told me, she told me everything. Give it up, man. You're busted! Hell, the guy at the front saw it, it's that obvious. He asked me if we were related, said I looked just like you."

"You do look like me," Tony said. "We both look like our father."

"Our? What the hell are you talking about 'our'. What are you trying to pull?"

"I'm trying to tell you the truth."

"You're trying to pawn me off on your old man? That's low, even for you, and I'm not buying it." He picked up the old photo and waved it towards Tony. "My mother told-"

"She lied," Tony said, cutting him off. "I'm not your father. My father is your father."

"She was with you, not him. She told me and her friend told me your name from this picture. You gonna try to convince me her friend's lying, too?"

"I was with her, but earlier. I think she was also with my, our, father. Anthony DiNozzo, Sr. I'm Junior. Both Tony DiNozzo."

Wilson stared back at Tony in utter disgust and Tony reacted with a barely perceptible flinch. When David opened his mouth to speak, DiNozzo raised a hand to stop him.

"No," he said coolly. "I'm here to tell you the truth. I'm not here to sit and listen to you tell me what a miserable shit I am. If you want to know the truth, fine. I'm here as long as it takes. If all you're interested in is taking shots at me, I'm outta here. You decide. Now."

"I don't believe you," David spat out.

"You know what," DiNozzo said, throwing both hands up, " I could be wrong. The timing fits and the resemblance is freaky. But, it's possible that some unknown third party might be your dad. All I know is, I'm not. I last saw your mother May 27th, 1989-eleven months before you were born."

David shook his head, enraged.

"Liar! You and your old man might pass women back and forth but my mother would never-"

"Hey!" Gibbs cut Wilson off. "That's enough! You get facts settled before you continue this conversation."

He pulled evidence bags, two tubes holding foam-tipped swabs and a pair of gloves from his jacket pocket.

"Real boy scout, huh, Boss?" Tony said as he watched him pull on the gloves.

"I went by the lab and got what I needed."

"Abby?" Tony asked, frowning. "Did you tell her why you needed it?"

"She wasn't there."

"You think I'm gonna trust a test run by your people?" Wilson said. "No way I'm-"

"Shut up and open your mouth," Gibbs said, standing and walking to stop beside him, swab in hand.

"My people aren't doing the test. Dynatech'll do the test."

David scowled a second before dropping his jaw and allowing Gibbs to swab the inside of his cheek. Gibbs dropped the swab into a tube, capped it and placed the tube inside the bag.

After he labeled the bag, he moved to Tony to repeat the process.

"You," Gibbs said when done, looking at Wilson, "Come with me. You," he turned to Tony. "Wait here."

Wilson stood to follow Gibbs out, glaring at Tony all the way to the door. Once the door shut behind them, Tony took a deep breath, put both elbows on the table and dropped his face into his hands.

* * *

Gibbs returned twenty minutes later and retook the seat by Tony.

"I'll drop it by Dynatech," Gibbs said, "Without mentioning names, a blind test. "

Tony frowned at him.

"Don't you think this was my call, my decision to make?"

"I thought he was your kid."

"I repeat, my call to make, not yours. You're overstepping here, Boss."

"I've been known to cross a line or two," Gibbs' tone was almost apologetic. He shrugged. "Maybe it was your call, but you would have made the same one I did. The sooner, the better. No point in waiting to get it set up." He paused a second before continuing.

"I thought he was your son."

Tony didn't respond.

"He can't accuse us of a set-up if he gets the results still sealed," Gibbs said. "They should be back by late Friday afternoon."

"You can give him Dad's number. Warn him first, before he calls, that he's never been into the father thing. The kid's probably more interested in reaming him out than a game of catch, anyway."

"You gonna warn your father?"

"Me?" Tony said, eyebrows raised. "No. He wants to discuss it, he can pick up the phone and call me." Tony paused and his voice took on an intense, bitter edge.

"Something to look forward to, huh? A real heart-to-heart with the old man. That would be a first. I can't wait." He shrugged and calmed some.

"Anyway, that's between them, nothing to do with me."

He sat a moment in silent agitation, knee bouncing, before he spoke again.

"She was my fiancée. Maybe she was only playing me, maybe I was an idiot, maybe he was right about all of that. But, how could he..." Tony slammed a palm down onto the table before bolting from his chair and stalking the room.

"I can't believe I fell for it!"

Gibbs rose and walked towards him.

"Tony-"

DiNozzo cut him off.

"Okay if I take the rest of the day, Boss? Less than an hour to go, nothing going on."

Gibbs hesitated a second then nodded. Tony left the room.

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**A/N, 8/19/12: **Thank you very much to all of you who have reviewed. Reading the reviews, I see that I wasn't clear enough in the opening A/Ns. This was posted as just a stand-alone scene. It is not a story I intend to continue. There's a remote possibility I might come back to it later. But, not likely and not before I finish my WIPs.

For those asking: Senior is David's father. He paid David's mother to 'take care of the problem and go away'. She never contacted him again and Senior is not aware of David's existence.


End file.
